MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Paul McCartney played the FedExForum Sunday night and during one of his several
soliloquies to the sold-out crowd he marveled at the cross-generational audiences that come to hear him play, a phenomenon that transcends time and age to create a seemingly eternal, ethereal world.

Inside the same arena Monday night, another traveling road show continued to manipulate their own timelines of age and accomplishment. The San Antonio Spurs aren’t quite working on a half-century of brilliance like Sir Paul, but in sports years, the Gregg Popovich–Tim Duncan partnership is as apt a comparison as one will find in the modern sports world.

Think about it. When they won their first title in 1999, today’s college freshmen were in kindergarten. Teenagers then now have their own kids wearing Duncan’s No. 21 jersey just as they did. This is as unique as it gets: A transcendent player and a gruff, no-nonsense coach — add a crafty and clever general manager in R.C. Buford who helps to draft Tony Parker late in the first round and Manu Ginobili late in the second — and all these years later it’s the same as it ever was, the Spurs back in the NBA Finals like it was, well, yesterday.

Duncan and Pop will vie for a fifth championship in 15 seasons and a fourth comprised as the Big Three. They finished the job with a 93-86 win for a sweep of the overmatched Memphis Grizzlies in their maiden voyage to the Western Conference finals.

“To get over that hump and get back into the Finals is just an amazing feeling, honestly,” said the 37-year-old Duncan after going for 15 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots. “Nothing’s promised. Teams continue to change. Teams continue to get better every year and we seem to make minimal changes and we continue to play and compete a high level.”

Too high for a Memphis team that is now, having completed a 12th season here, truly attracting a generation of its own basketball fans that cut their teeth with a college team that plays in the same building.

These four straight losses came entirely unsuspectingly after the Grizz took out the Los Angeles Clippers in six and then top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in five. But it can’t diminish the wild success of this group during a drama-filled season, and the 17th consecutive playoff sellout crowd that encouraged their blue-collar club to the final buzzer proved it by standing and loudly cheering them off into the abrupt offseason.

Coach Lionel Hollins, who has molded this team in his own manly image of how basketball should be played — tough, physical, resolute and from the inside out, stood on the floor after all his players had walked off as if to soak it all in. He unfastened the mic he wore for television, handed it to Grizzlies PR director Jason Wallace and slowly headed into the tunnel as the crowd continued to cheer.

Waving yellow rally towels that read “We Don’t Bluff,” they had to be wondering if Hollins was truly walking into the Memphis sunset.

He entered the season in the final year of his contract and an extension never came as new ownership and management took over the operation just as the season was getting under way. They shook up the roster with a couple of trades that included shipping out leading scorer Rudy Gay.

The core of Zach Randolph, Mike Conley, Tony Allen and Marc Gasol carried the club the rest of the way, securing a franchise-best 56 wins. They caught a break facing OKC without injured All-Star point guard Russell Westbrook and grinded their way to this unprecedented point.

And now it’s up to the new management team, led by CEO Jason Levien, to make the right call on several critical fronts, starting with Hollins, whose contract expires at the end of next month. He will have suitors and likely some — the Nets and Clippers — willing to pay a premium. One member of the Grizzlies’ large, new ownership group acknowledged that Hollins will be a hot commodity for several vacancies in the league, but added “We’ll have first shot.”

Then there’s free agents. At the top of the agenda is the team’s heart-and-soul, the creator of grit-and-grind, Tony Allen. Jerryd Bayless is likely to opt out of his contract. And what will this new group want to do with Randolph, who turns 32 in July, and his remaining $34.3 million owed him over the next two seasons?

If there was any doubt as to where Allen and Randolph hope to be when training camp opens come October all one had to do was look into their bloodshot eyes and hear their cracking voices.

“I bleed blue. This is where I want to be,” Allen said. “I don’t want to cry right now, but you know, it’s just a great season. I love the fight in all my guys.”

Randolph carried the team in the first two rounds, but couldn’t get anything going against the Spurs, who keyed on him with swarming defense every time he touched the ball in the post.

“You never know,” said Randolph, wiping moist eyes. “Just seeing this core, where we went. This is where I want to be, whether I get traded or not. I would like to retire a Grizzly and be here.”

Hollins didn’t want to discuss his future after the game. But before it, he gave a sense of what coaching these players and putting his stamp on this team — a 24-win outfit in 2008-09 when he took over for the fired Marc Iavorani with 39 games left– has meant to him. Randolph said it all starts with Hollins.

“What I’m proud of is that I was blessed to have a group that wanted to win,” Hollins said. “They didn’t know how. They were young and they didn’t know how to work hard because they never had to, and I just tried to show them the way and put them in an environment that they could be successful.

“I’m proud of them because they wanted it and they went and did everything that I pushed them to do. They could have quit as well, but they chose to fight, and they’re reaping the rewards for us right now.”

Just a quick helping hand for those people that think the spurs are old. Spurs starting 5 average age that’s: splitter 28, Duncan 37, Parker 31, Leonard 21 and green 25 is 28.4. While the heat starters: James 28, wade 31, bosh 29, chalmers 27, Haslem 32 which makes that gasp 29.4!

I bet if the heat lose to indiana and spurs win the championship, heat fan will say they are lucky their opponent was not heat… If spurs face heat and win the title, i bet they would say the refs were biased or spurs got lucky… I could go on.. Bottom line.. Haters without brain will only hate without reasons… Heat fan without brain will keep coming up with excuses…

If only the warriors were healthy that time they should have been in thw finals. We saw how good curry was when he was healthy and we saw david lee’s impact despite minimum minutes as well as Andrew Bogut because of the ankle and that last game when harrison barnes whio I believe will be an allstar 2 years from now, was out in the fourth quarter because of that hard fall he took… despite those all, they gave spurs the nerves.. and I believe the warriors will be the next big thing next year and they’re going to the finals if healthy.

Have you noticed that the Spurs not only beat the really good teams (except the Lakers), they also beat the Refs. The only way Spurs almost lost to those teams are because of the refs. If we face Heat in the finals, the refs will totally root for the Heat just because they have their “Big 3”.

Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Grizzlies played well and have nothing to be ashamed of. Spurs managed to execute better and their discipline, experience and skill won the series. It should be noted that on any given day – any of these superior play off teams could post a win. Sustaining that and getting the best of seven is what the play-offs are all about. I am old enough to remember and appreciate the days when teams had cores that lasted. Sadly that is not the way it is any longer. You could have a championship roster that gets blown-up for salary caps. Superstars are alright, but I’ll always root for the teams that have heart, good coaching and play as a team. Individual stars don’t win championships – they twinkle and are absolutely exciting to watch. But basketball is truly a team sport and without that component you won’t have sustained success. If you don’t have too short a memory, you’ll remember when Miami got dusted even with their three superstars simply because they didn’t play as a team. Go Spurs!

i like how alot of people are saying Spurs will win championship just to be on the odd side knowing everyone has favor in Miami but guess what when you have more favor like espn ETC. it means they have more chances to win. remeber Lebron came alone in 2007 got one game by himself while Spurs big 3 was more healthy and younger. that being said im not saying Spurs are old like other ppl, all im saying is that remember James and Wade are the super star type players they are game changing players of this era of the NBA. Not saying they wouldnt chocke just saying what wade did in 2006 and Lebron being best player in the world right now hands down Maimi is definitly the favor and in my opanion has better shot on the tittle

The Spurs swept bronbron’s team in’07….he didn’t do anything but fold like a towel in the 4th quarters……. Wade wins NOTHING without Shaq and now his ‘buddies’ …..lol PS: how is the latest of the ‘superstars doin’…..you know, the one dimensional, ring chasin’ shooter that is a defensive liability???? AND …….great game by the Pacers last night,, don’t you think????

Wonder why NBA has that ‘Make It Happen’ slogan going on?
NBA will ‘make’ the Miami Heat winners of the Eastern Conference Finals, because Miami Heat ‘sells’. They generate revenue for the NBA. A Spurs-Pacers match-up will not generate the same amount of cash as the Spurs-Heat. Sorry Pacers, it is what it is.

Lionel kinda lost his cool didn’t he? Pushing his player down into his seat late in the game? Non cool LH. I don’t think he has the respect from the players especially after something like that happening. I think he will not be renewed. More changes for the Grizz.

hats off to my grizz for getting this far, always gotta believe in them. hopefully allen, z-bo and hollins will all be there next season. they do need a shooter, but getting rid of allen just makes no sense, every season he is recognised as one of the best if not the best perimeter defenders in the league. every season the grizz are getting better and tougher, just think if the core remains and they add a few more scorers, how good they could be. glad we went out to the spurs though, hope they win it, they deserve it

I know alot of people, talk who will win the Title, they favor miami. Whichever teams win that will play will on that day, Spurs will study Heat and Spurs will take it in game 6 or 7. They are too smart, forget about being old or flashy. spurs play bball, Pondexer said Spurs will bball how it should be played.

I’m still hoping Indiana beats Miami. It’s not too farfetched, but I’d love to see people whine about how boring it is. I’m sure even Miami’s real fans would watch it still just because they love the sport while the bandwagoners will have shut up. Sorry heat fans but you’re gonna have to suffer to get rid of the bandwagon.

Bring back Lionel Hollins is the first thing. He is an exceptional coach, and really to me was overlooked as Coach of the Year because you lose Rudy Gay, your best perimiter player and leading scorer, that has a huge effect mentally on your guys when a key guy gets traded and all the rumors about dumping salary and whatever, they still won 56 games this year, not that George Karl didn’t deserve it for the job he did in Denver, but Hollins should’ve had more consideration. Next, get some outside shooting. Keep Z-Bo and Gasol, just get some more perimiter guys that in case the defense converges on those two, those people will be open to knock down 3 pointers. That’s all they gotta do!

T-Mac gets a free ticket to the finals, but Miami will crush San Antonio in no more than 5 games.

The Grizz just didn’t have the composure to finish off games. Is it really too overwhelming for them to be in the conference finals? Were they just being too nervous to play solid basketball? Or maybe losing Rudy Gay for budget reasons negatively impacted their offense. Nonetheless, games 2 and 3 should have been theirs; the Spurs were there for the taking. A sweep just doesn’t sound right, but it’s reality and as much as I hate saying it, Tony Parker and company deserve it.

Miami will crush San Antonio in no more than 5 games? nope, I don’t see that happening. first, the Heat are not in The Finals yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself. even if they do make it (which is likely), yes, they will be the favorites, but the Spurs have a good shot at beating them because of their depth, defense, experience, and a great coach. I’m not guaranteeing the Spurs will win, but they have a good shot. I can see that series go to 6 or 7 games, not 5, but the Heat still have to beat the Pacers first.

The Griz identity with Gasol, ZBo, Allen and Conley is already great. They have exceeded expectations this year even if they lost Rudy Gay and a should be deeper bench days before his trade. Memphis would be wasting what they’ve built if they just break this team. What they need would be role players that would complement these four. A pure shooter (Korver, R. Anderson etc.) would be the first they should acquire. They can even check Dorrell Wright as he was a surprise back then when he’s with GS (before M. Jackson). Then they should squeeze anything out of Mahinmi, if no juice comes out, they should get rid of him LOL.

As for SAS, yeah I hope they’d have enough rest as the teams in the East are way younger than them. Would be great for them to get their 5th ring and finally 1 for TMac.

LOL, so much for the Grizzlies, they got SWEPT BY THE MIGHTY SPURS! OKC was so bad without Westbrook,they made Grizzlies look like a real threat LOL, tells u HOW USELESS DURANT and the rest of the OKC roster is without their superstar buddy Westbrook, Durant is a taller version of Kobe,one dimensional volume shooter player with no leadership qualities, choking BIG TIME in playoff time, of course he needs more superstars in his team to get wins and rings like Kobe and most players anyway but hey, OKC wouldnt even make past first round if they didnt have WEstbrook from the begining of the playoffs, they are that BAD, the Spurs are ready for their 5th title, am so glad they made it to the finals they were the best team in the west and they are the biggest thread to the Heat than any other team.

Happy to see the Grizz for the first time in the CF …..but boy someone in that organisation must have thought that he wants to kill himself after their last 3 games. It was a hopeless mission for them to make baskets.

How could you trade Rudy and think that you still stand a chance offensively? Being healthy in a financial way is important but being sweeped like that in the CF……..You never knows when a final might come on your way and Memphis blew their chances before it even knocked on their door!

I’ve seen a lot happen in 25 years NBA Bball but this decision turned out to be a big flop!
In my top 5. biggest mistakes in the NBA trading Rudy is nr. 2.

I dont know about you guys, but I really find it uncomfortable listening to this commentary in the highlights as compared to the usual commentary. This guy can’t give a good commentary. It sounds horrible and his voice is so throaty that it is uncomfortable to listen to

funny how you said in your last comment that the Spurs have no chance against the Heat, yet you think it will go 7 games. lol. once again, you can’t guarantee that. and I can say this, the Spurs are not the Pacers. works both ways. like I said in my last comment, you need to think before you leave a comment on here.

Yeah the spurs are only the same team that swept a team spearheaded by Lebron. They’re only a team that defies father time Everytime they step on the court and laugh in his face everyone they do. Spurs have all the pieces, skills and heart to best the heat in the finals. Will they? I hope so, but heat aren’t even in the finals yet. You’ve got plenty of ECF action to watch. Get off my spurs

Hey Danny…..just in case you missed it …..Tony is on a roll and will give Mario C. fits with penetration and the Heat’s inside game is NO MATCH for the Spurs….besides……as has been so appropriately pointed out to you ….THE SPURS ARE in the Finals and the Heat are having a tough battle with Pacers just to Maybe get there………….soooooo, if you wanna talk about the Heat, I’m sure there are other blogs for the teams that are still paying in the Conference Finals………..Spurs take on all comers —– whether they have flashy superstar players or not. This is for sure….you won’t hear the Spurs players talkin’ stupid about playin’ the Heat……they WILL play the eastern conference champs….whoever that will be!!!

Son, son, son…stop listening to all the hype and listen and be a student of real basketball. Those of us basketball purist know that Spurs have a very good shot at the title. They don’t have to shut lebron down, just contain him and make everyone else beat them. Ask the Lakers(ala Kobe) about that.

You were probably one of those that was sure it was going to be Memphis vs. Miami in finals. Stay in your lane and deal with the Pacers😉

Some goog advice for people that only live the day like you Daniel. Did you not see the game in Miami without the big 3? Pop will clamp on Lebron and wade and then execute on both sides of the court. Results Spurs will give Miami a run for the price of a ticket or ABC elite. The entire NBA, ESPN and the elite will bet on Miami, I just hope they don’t play the referees against the Spurs to win their bets! Bottom line one for one the Spurs by six games.

their is a chance in hail Daniel Almeida we beat the lakers who had a beast in Dwight howard, we beat 2 of the youngest stars in the splash brothers, Stepehen Curry and Clay Thompson and they shoot better than Miami..the east is not as hard as the west the only teams that are good in the easy are the bulls the knicks the heat and Miami and the pacers.. in the west you have the spurs the clippers the lakers the grizz OKC Houston these are all contenders its one thing when you tell the truth and besides its student vs teacher we one four together they’ve one one together do your homework.. I admit they are good but I bet you they preparing for us bet THAT!

are the Heat in The Finals yet? no, they’re not, so I would be concentrating on the Pacers still if I were you. and although the Spurs would be the underdogs in that series, they certainly have a good shot at beating the Heat. the Spurs core might be aging, but the team, as a whole, are not old. they might not be able to stop LeBron from getting his points, but they can slow him down with team defense and make him earn his points. but like I said, the Heat are not in The Finals, and there’s no guarantee in that yet because the Pacers are still a pretty good team. you need to think before you leave a comment on here.

MEMPHIS YOUR FATE WAS SEALED WHEN YOU DID NOT HANDLE THE WHOLE GAY RANDOLPH SITUATION CAUSE ALL YOUR WEAKNESESS EMBODIES WHAT RUDY GAY IS A PERIMETER THREAT TO MAKE ZACH RANDOLPH GOING TO KEEP PRESSURE OF A MIKE CONLEY WHOM IS STILL LEARNING AND MARC GASOL IS STILL JUST THE TYPICAL BIG MAN CENTER THAT NEEDS HELP AS WELL TO SPACE HIM OUT TO CREATE SHOTS FOR HIM WHICH AGAIN EMBODIES RUDY GAY….RUDY GAY SHOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER THAN THIS CAUSE IF HE JUST PLAYS THE GAME PROPERLY WITHOUT THE NONSENSE HE WILL BE BETTER OFF…TO BE HONEST WITH YOU NO OFFENCE TO HIS TALENTS BUT ZACH RANDOLPH REALLY IS JUST AN ALL STAR BY DEFAULT WHEN YOU HAVE OTHERS TO MAKE HIM GOING HE REALLY IS A BEAST LIKE D-BO BUT WITHOU THAT YOU SAW THE USELESSNESS AS THE GRIZZ GOT SWEPT THO ALL OF IT IS NOT HIS FAULT AS THE BIGGEST STAR HE GETS THE MOST AND NEAR FINAL BLAME AS BASKETBALL IS A SPORT THE ONLY SPORT THAT ONCE YOU HAVE THE BST PLAYER WITHOUT QUESTION HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE PROMISE LAND AND MANY WOULD SAY 2004 PSTONS NEVER HAD THE BEST PLAYER I SAY JOKE THEY ARE MAKING CAUSE IN EVERY ARENA HE PLAYS THE SOUND OF BIG BEN CLOCK RING WOULD PLAY FOR BEN WALLCE WHOM NOBODY COULD SCORE AROUND….BUT STILL MEMPHIS FUTURE IS BRIGHT BUT TO BE HONEST WITH YOU POPLE ARE LOOKING FOR THE PLAYERS TO BE READY NOW TO LEAD THEM TO THE PROMISE LAND WHEN THEY COME OUT OF THE DRAFT I AM SEEING THIS MORE AND MORE THAT THE PLAYERS IN THE DRAFT NOT READY AND THEY DEVELOP WHICH SHOULD NOT BE THE CASE….MEMPHIS GAIN DOES NOT NEED TO LOOK AT THIS DEFEAT IN SHAME CAUSE NO MATTER THAT TE SPURS HAVE THE COMBINED AGE OF A MILLION YEARS OLD THE BRAIN AND JUST THE READYNESS FOR PRIMETIME WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL…..LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK….ADDING THIS TAYSHAWN PRINCE IS A GOOD ROLE PLYER FOR WHAT HE DOES NO OFFENCE TO HIM BUT HOW IN THE WORLD YOU REPLACE RUDY GAY AGAIN WHICH EMBODIES ALL OF WHAT AILS YOU IN THESE PLAYOFFS FOR HIM CAUSE YOU DO NOT NEED HIM

Get rid of prince or have him come off the bench get some shooters in the draft or free agency. Inside out offense only works when you have perimeter threats. Why you think Lebron wemt and got Ray Allen the best shooter in the history of the game. If memphis destroys their roster that would be stupid.

Very nice comments from Gasol. He is a true sportsman, picking up Parker the way he did in the heat of the battle. He said they were taught a lesson on how to play. The regular season games were just games, this was a full on battle and they weren’t good enough. When will the Spurs get the credit they deserve? Awesome, even the Spurs are surprised by the success, Ginobli can’t believe they swept the Grizz. What did POP say at the end of the game, only one or two plays decided a few games that could have gone either way. It could be 2 / 2 right now it aint!! Spurs!

even my Grizz was lost in the playoff,i’m still proud of them,they’ve been deep in this years playoff and i’ve never expect them to be in western conference finals,hope they learn a lesson from the spurs,

I find it most shocking it took 6 games for the Spurs to finish the Warriors, but it took just 4 to beat the Griz. The Spurs shut down their big men and showed the world how much they need a shooter. If Griz want to contend, they need a shooter.

They had Wayne Ellington before who was a pure shooter…they had rudy gay who was an offensive threat…and they had Mareese speights who is a versatile big man who can shoot from the outside…if they had this team right now…they would be champions already…bad trades from the management just to conserve money…

They trader Rudy Gay for Prince and some other guy. I totally agree, they should have traded for a shooter. Prince is not the same player anymore. He’s not as good of a defender as he used to be. I can’t believe the Grizz got swept😦